Rating: WORTHY!
This is volume one of a new series. "Syd" is hearing voices; she has done so for a long time, and can't stand it any more. She tries to kill herself, but she survives and is sprung from the hospital by a guy who whisks her away to a charming old house hidden behind iron railings and deep foliage, where she meets others who, like her, have some sort of telepathic ability. The house is so representative of what these people have done to themselves, it's almost like it was planned that way....
In a tableau of introduction we meet: Fagen (pyrokinetic), Wire (invulnerable), Runt (strength and agility), Blurgirl (super speed), Moon (Illusions), Misery Kid (delusions), Maisie (clairvoyant), and Gruff (telepath). The guy who rescues Syd (her super-hero name) is named The Voice. He can communicate telepathically, too. What Syd doesn't expect is the lifestyle these people lead: violence and robbery. If they see something they want, they take it and woe betide whoever gets in their way. This sanctuary is so important to them, that even parents aren't allowed to trip it up.
Starting on page forty-nine, it felt like I might be reading an excerpt from the graphic novel version of the movie Fight club which I haven't seen and have no interest in seeing. It was bloody and violent as Syd and Gruff fight each other - presumably as training. But after punching each other in the face several times they're suddenly kissing. This felt not only inappropriate, but also entirely predictable, and it marked the point where I started losing interest in this comic.
It got worse when we went through a bunch of adolescent posing, angst, and machismo, to say nothing of the soul-searching and he dramatic plans which fell through. All the tedious back stories flooding-out really brought the main story to a screeching halt. After that, it picked up again and turned out, by the end, to be a merit-worthy read. It's not often I can say that, so this makes a pleasant change.
Since this blog is about writing, here's a writing issue. On page one hundred, Maisie is talking to Syd, and she's saying that The Voice isn't perfect, and she follows it with "none of us are". Should she have said, instead, "none of us is"? It can be used either way, but the number has to agree, I think. Strictly speaking, in this case, Maisie meant that no individual is. If she had said, "This group isn't perfect, no groups are" this would have worked, but it seems to me that this isn't the case.
She's talking in the same frame as when she said "The Voice isn't perfect," so it seems to me that since she's talking about an individual, in which case, correct use should be "none of us is", as in "He isn't perfect; none of us is." However, this is not a narrative, it's a person speaking, and people in general use poor grammar, so while it might sound odd, I think it works here. But you're welcome to disagree, since I am far from a grammar expert. The important thing to keep in mind is that what works in your narration may not work for a given individual's speech, and vice-versa.
So overall, I rate this graphic novel as a worthy read, which surprised me given the way I thought it was going - downhill! It turned around and so did my opinion. I'd be interested in reading volume two, which is also a nice change from the position I've been in vis-à-vis some of the graphic novels I've reviewed recently. The dialog - apart from a sorry bit just after the middle, was good, and the art work was superb. I recommend this.
